Myth Arc by BCJsPs BCJsPS Myth Arc is a collection of pieces improvised over two days in Chicago by Brian Penkrot, Justin Comer and Jason Palamara. Myth Arc is more noisy and chaotic than Comer’s last release; it combines violin, clarinet, laptop synthesis, sampled sound, hand percussion and drums in polyrhythms that shudder with energy. […]
Kent Williams
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Label Profile: Ox Cart New Music, founded by Gabi Vanek
Justin K Comer & the Unblessed Rest of Us by Justin K Comer & the Unblessed Rest of Us Gabi Vanek is the “label boss” of Oxcart New Music, but she isn’t precious about it. She didn’t use the word “curate” once in this interview. “So I have wanted to use the name Oxcart New […]
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Orchestra Iowa’s centennial season features Iowa composers and world-class performers
Lasting 100 years is clearly something for any arts organization to celebrate. “It gives an illusion of permanence,” says Orchestra Iowa music director Timothy Hankewich. “But nowhere is it written that a community will have a symphony orchestra.” In recent decades, many orchestras have folded in the United States. The continuous existence of Orchestra Iowa […]
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Q&A with musician Delia Beatriz, aka Debit
Delia Beatriz (aka Debit) is a musician who crosses borders: She was born in Mexico and grew up in Texas. She’s a dance music DJ, but her latest album, The Long Count, uses machine learning algorithms to process the sounds of Mayan instruments. She has a Masters in Music Technology from Columbia University, but she’s […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Jarret Purdy & Dan Padley — ‘Ecotones’
Ecotones by Jarrett Purdy & Dan Padley When Dan Padley played at the Iowa City Farmer’s Market a few weeks ago, I was impressed (as always) by the liquid elegance of his playing on the jazz standard “All the things you are.” I’m sure there was effort expended, but he played effortlessly, pulling different sounds […]
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Give Phil Hemingway a chance, Johnson County
Had an interesting conversation with Phil Hemingway at the Iowa City Farmer’s Market July 2nd. I’ve known Phil for decades — he was our go-to auto mechanic for many years. He’s now running for Johnson County Board of Supervisors for the fifth time. He’s a Republican, and I’m a left-wing progressive-to-radical. I asked him about […]
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Album Review: Sinner Frenz — ‘Separation from Church and State’
Music has done a number on Luke Tweedy. He was a record store guy with a uniquely acerbic bedside manner. He taught himself electronics and audio engineering and built his recording studio, Flat Black, from scratch. He’s documented (in first-rate commercial recordings) adventurous music from Iowa and beyond. He founded the infamous ft(The Shadow Government), […]
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Album Review: Death Bag — ‘Stoopgoblin Suite — Live at Trumpet Blossom Cafe’
Stoopgoblin Suite – Live at Trumpet Blossom Cafe by Death Bag In Death Bag, Chris Wiersema (half of the ambient doom duo Lwa) plays electronics gizmos and Gabi Vanek, a veteran performer in the experimental live music scene who has grown up in the shadows of the University of Iowa School of Music, plays live […]
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Album Review: Anthony Worden & the Illiterati — ‘How Could We Lose When We’re So Sincere?’
How Could We Lose When We're So Sincere? by Anthony Worden and the Illiterati In 1968, the Turtles released the album The Turtles Present the Battle Of The Bands, a cartoonish concept album that yielded the hit “Caroline.” Every song on the album was by a different invented group, each with its own style. Anthony […]
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Nashville’s Eve Maret will bring her synthesizer heart to Witching Hour 2021
Eve Maret will be a featured performer at this year’s Witching Hour Festival, an exploration of the creative process and a celebration of new work produced by Little Village and the Englert Theatre. Full schedule and ticketing for this year’s Witching Hour will be available soon at witchinghourfestival.com. Nashville-based electronic musician Eve Maret has accomplished […]
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RIP Norm Macdonald, the man who mugged Iowa Athletics
Comedian Norm Macdonald passed away Tuesday, Sept. 14, at age 61. If you were born in the last millennium, you know Norm Macdonald. He was on Saturday Night Live from 1993-1998, including as the fake anchor on the “Weekend Update” news segment from 1994 to ’97. The style of humor that Macdonald brought to that […]
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Track premiere: Anthony Worden and the Illiterati, ‘Sad Stories’
I remember being at a Feed Me Weird Things show in Chris Wiersema’s back yard. Anthony Worden showed up, fashionably late, wearing a black-and-white polka dot shirt and huge round sunglasses. He looked like he was auditioning to be in the background of a D.A. Pennebaker’s Bob Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back. I saw him […]
